05/05/21 - South Dakota

#29597-writ denied-PER CURIAM 2021 S.D. 30

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE

STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA

* * * *

DAKOTANS FOR HEALTH,

Petitioner,

v.

STEVE BARNETT, Secretary of State, sued in his official capacity,

Respondent.

* * * * ORIGINAL PROCEEDING

* * * *

JAMES D. LEACH Rapid City, South Dakota

Attorney for petitioner.

JASON R. RAVNSBORG Attorney General

GRANT M. FLYNN Assistant Attorney General Pierre, South Dakota

Attorneys for respondent.

* * * *

CONSIDERED ON BRIEFS APRIL 15, 2021

OPINION FILED 05/05/21

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PER CURIAM

[?1.]

This is an original mandamus proceeding. On March 22, 2021,

Dakotans for Health petitioned this Court to take original jurisdiction and issue an

alternative writ of mandamus requiring Secretary of State Steve Barnett to appear

and show cause why this Court should not issue a peremptory writ of mandamus

commanding him to approve Dakotans for Health's form for referral of House Joint

Resolution (HJR) 5003 to the voters of South Dakota at the general election on

November 8, 2022. On March 25, 2021, this Court filed its order accepting original

jurisdiction and entering an alternative writ of mandamus requiring the Secretary

of State to show cause why a peremptory writ of mandamus should not be issued.

We scheduled expedited briefing. After considering Dakotans for Health's petition,

Secretary Barnett's response, and Dakotans for Health's reply, we issue the

following decision.

Facts

[?2.]

During the 2021 legislative session, the South Dakota House of

Representatives and Senate approved HJR 5003, which is entitled "A JOINT

RESOLUTION, . . ." and begins with the introductory clause "BE IT RESOLVED

BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA,

THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN[.]" HJR 5003 proposed submitting to the

voters at the next primary election in June 2022 the request to amend Article XI of

the South Dakota Constitution by adding a new section. The new section proposed

by the Legislature would provide that certain constitutional amendments and

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initiated measures must be approved by three-fifths of the votes cast thereon to

become part of the Constitution.

[?3.]

South Dakota Constitution article III, ? 1 provides in part that "the

people expressly reserve to themselves . . . the right to require that any laws which

the Legislature may have enacted shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of the

state before going into effect[.]" (Emphasis added.) SDCL 2-1-3 provides that:

Any law which the Legislature may have enacted, except one that may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, shall, upon the filing of a petition as provided in this chapter, be submitted to a vote of the electors of the state at the next general election. The petition shall be signed by not less than five percent of the qualified electors of the state. The form of the petition, including petition size and petition font size, shall be prescribed by the State Board of Elections.

[?4.]

In March 2021, Dakotans for Health, a state registered ballot

committee, submitted a petition pursuant to SDCL 2-1-3, seeking to refer HJR 5003

to the voters at the general election in November 2022. SDCL 2-1-3.1 provides

SDCL 2-1-3.1 provides:

The petition as it is to be circulated for a referred law shall be filed with the secretary of state prior to circulation for signatures and shall:

(1) Contain the title of the referred law; (2) Contain the effective date of the referred law; (3) Contain the date of the general election at which the referred law is to

be submitted; (4) Be accompanied by a notarized form that includes the names and

addresses of the petition sponsors; and (5) Be accompanied by a statement of organization as provided in ? 12-27-

6.

The petition shall be filed with the secretary of state within ninety days after the adjournment of the Legislature which passed the referred law. A sworn

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that petitions to refer laws must be filed with the Secretary of State and

enumerates the criteria the petition must meet. The Secretary of State reviewed

the petition pursuant to these requirements and determined that HJR 5003 did not

qualify as a "law which the legislature may have enacted," pursuant to SDCL 2-1-3,

and that the petition did not contain a valid effective date as required by SDCL 2-1-

3.1. Consequently, the Secretary of State informed Dakotans for Health he was

"unable to file [the] petition to refer HJR 5003." The Secretary of State's review of

the petition was for procedural compliance and did not include a review of the

merits of HJR 5003. See Wyatt v. Kundert, 375 N.W.2d 186, 192 (S.D. 1985) (setting

forth constitutional provisions, statutes, and administrative rules dictating "the

mandatory legal procedures for referring legislation . . . .").

Mandamus

[?5.]

SDCL 21-29-1 provides:

The writ of mandamus may be issued by the Supreme and circuit courts, to any inferior tribunal, corporation, board, or

________________________ (. . . continued)

affidavit, signed by at least two-thirds of the petition sponsors stating that the documents filed constitute the entire petition and to the best of the knowledge of the sponsors contains a sufficient number of signatures shall also be filed with the secretary of state. The form of the petition and affidavit shall be prescribed by the State Board of Elections.

The petition circulator shall provide to each person who signs the petition a form containing the title of the referred law; any fiscal note or summary of a fiscal note obtained pursuant to ? 2-9-32; the name, phone number, and email address of each petition sponsor; a statement whether the petition circulator is a volunteer or paid petition circulator and, if a paid circulator, the amount the circulator is being paid. The form shall be approved by the secretary of state prior to circulation. The petition form, as prescribed by the State Board of Elections, shall include the paid circulator identification number within the verification of any paid circulator.

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person, to compel the performance of an act which the law specially enjoins as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station; or to compel the admission of a party to the use and enjoyment of a right or office to which he is entitled, and from which he is unlawfully precluded by such inferior tribunal, corporation, board, or person.

[?6.]

A "writ of mandamus must be issued in all cases where there is not a

plain, speedy, and adequate remedy, in the ordinary course of law." SDCL 21-29-2.

To prevail and be granted a writ of mandamus, a party "must have a clear legal

right to have a service performed by the party to whom he seeks to have the writ

directed." Dacy v. Gors, 471 N.W.2d 576, 578 (S.D. 1991) (quoting S.D. Trucking

Ass'n v. S.D. Dept. of Transp., 305 N.W.2d 682, 684 (S.D. 1981)).

Analysis

[?7.]

HJR 5003 proposed an amendment to Article XI of the South Dakota

Constitution to be voted upon by the voters at the June 2022 primary election. HJR

5003 is authorized by Article XXIII, ? 1, which permits a majority of each house of

the Legislature to propose an amendment to the Constitution directly to the voters.

The Legislature's proposed amendment will be decided in the June 2022 primary

election, when the voters will either adopt or reject the amendment proposed by

HJR 5003. Thus, the petition by Dakotans for Health seeking mandamus relief

must fail because HJR 5003 is not a law enacted by the Legislature, and as a result,

there is nothing in HJR 5003 to refer to the electors at the November 2022 general

election.

[?8.]

The Constitution makes clear that the people of South Dakota

"expressly reserve to themselves . . . the right to require that any laws which the

Legislature may have enacted shall be submitted to a vote of the electors . . . ." S.D.

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